'If you're a certain age, you're not allowed to express your sexuality': Madonna poses for racy photos as she talks about the struggle for women's rights

She’s a feminist and gay icon, and while busy promoting her album Rebel Heart, Madonna made the time to sit down with Out magazine recently to discuss some of the issues that are most important to her.

The pop star, who posed for a smouldering photo shoot to go with the interview, talked about the struggle for women’s rights – which she described as ‘the last great frontier’.

‘Gay rights are way more advanced than women’s rights,’ Madonna said. ‘People are a lot more open-minded to the gay community than they are to women, period.

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Smouldering: Madonna posed in a raunchy photo shoot for Out magazine, in which she discussed women's rights and the moment she realised her brother is gay

‘It’s moved along for the gay community, for the African-American community, but women are still just trading on their a**. To me, the last great frontier is women. Women are still the most marginalised group.’

She added: ‘You’re still categorised—you’re still either a virgin or a whore. If you’re a certain age, you’re not allowed to express your sexuality, be single, or date younger men.’

Madonna, who is 56, of course has regularly faced scrutiny over for expressing her sexuality, her skimpy outfits, and her toyboy lovers.

'You're either a virgin or a w***e': The pop star called the struggle for equality for women 'the last great frontier' and said she 'can relate' to Joan Of Arc

Shattering illusions: Madonna posed in front of a broken mirror as part of the black and white photo shoot

The star, who said she ‘can relate’ to Joan Of Arc – (‘sometimes I’m getting burned at the stake metaphorically’) – also told the magazine about the moment she realised her younger brother Christopher is gay.

‘It wasn’t something I could articulate; it was just something instinctual that I noticed,’ she said. ‘My brother always had a lot of girls around him that seemed like they were madly in love with him, but he didn’t seem like he was madly in love with them.

And then I saw him interacting with my ballet teacher [who was gay], and in my mind I unconsciously went, “Oh, I get it.” I didn’t ask my brother if he was gay.

‘I didn’t even know there was a phrase “gay.” I just understood that they were different. There was some silent, unspoken understanding that they had a connection.’

Busy: The 56-year-old, pictured at last month's Grammy Awards, has been promoting her new album Rebel Heart

Christopher – who at 54 is two years younger than Madonna, and the second youngest of six children – said in his 2008 memoir My Sister Madonna that the singer outed him without consulting him during a 1991 interview with The Advocate.

The Living For Love hit-maker went on to reveal that she used to wish she was gay, because men on of the opposite sex didn’t ‘get’ her.

‘I didn’t feel like straight men understood me. They just wanted to have sex with me,’ Madonna admitted. ‘Gay men understood me, and I felt comfortable around them. There was only that one problem, which is that they didn’t want to have sex with me!

Under scrutiny: Madonna spoke about how women are 'not allowed to express their sexuality' after a certain age. She is pictured arriving to this year's Grammys

‘So… conundrum! I was like, “How am I ever going to get a date? Maybe if I cut my hair and I lose a lot of weight, someone will mistake me for a guy and ask me out.”’

The star later added that those tipped as 'the new Madonna' cannot possibly be, because she is 'the new old Madonna'.

In a black and white photo shoot for the magazine, the star could be seen holding her bare breasts in a bondage style black top with matching fishnets, shorts and thigh-high boots, and a whistle in her mouth.

For some more artistic shots, Madonna posed in front of a shattered mirror. The new issue of Out magazine featuring Madonna hits newsstands on March 17.

'I just understood that they were different': The singer recalled realising her younger brother Christopher is gay. They are pictured here in November 1995

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Madonna poses for Out magazine as she talks about the struggle for women's rights